New data tool gives side-by-side comparison of House and Senate budget drafts
This update is the third in a series of data-forward additions Hawaiʻi Appleseed has made to its website in recent months, reflecting the organization’s commitment to transparency, accessibility, and evidence-based advocacy.
Hawaiʻi income tax cuts hang in balance as legislative session nears end
House and Senate committees focused on state finances pursued different paths in early March to preserve more or all of the scheduled tax breaks for all but the highest-income households.
Free school meals are popular. Hawaiʻi isn’t sold.
Three years after lawmakers first considered making school meals free for all kids, students and teachers are still pushing for change.
With new federal cuts looming, legislature must fulfill 100-year promise to Hawaiians
Senate Bill 3028 would give DHHL a permanent, dedicated revenue stream funded by restructuring the state’s conveyance tax.
Don’t undermine Hawaiʻi’s Safe Routes To School program
A bill under consideration would give the transportation department broad authority to direct program funds for its existing projects, without going through the legislatively mandated evaluation process of the other proposals.
Tax fairness promoted in bills would implement major changes
The Hawaii Tax Fairness Coalition is advocating for bills that would make major changes to the state’s income tax, capital gains tax, real estate sales tax and a tax on income for real estate investment trusts.
From free meals to teacher safety, an array of bills for Hawaiʻi schools
Proposals have made it halfway through the legislative session, and some advocates are cautiously optimistic that legislation that failed in past years will make it this year.
Free bus rides for keiki? So much for that
One supporter said she hopes the effort will come up again in a future year.
Creating a Hawaiʻi we can afford
For decades, we’ve lived with the highest cost of living in the country, in a service oriented economy where wage growth lags far behind rising prices. What can we do about it? We come together and find solutions.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers debate scaling back promised tax cuts
In 2024, lawmakers passed sweeping tax relief under Act 46, promising phased income tax reductions for Hawaiʻi residents over several years. But the state’s financial outlook has changed.
Balancing the state budget could require pauses to income tax cut plan
With federal funding cuts on the horizon, state lawmakers are advancing measures proposed by Gov. Josh Green that would pause some of the “historic” state tax cuts passed in 2024.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers debate Gov. Green’s freeze on income tax cut
Because lower tax rates through this year will continue at the 2026 level beyond this year, Green’s office said Hawaiʻi families will save $5.4 billion over the next five years after $1.5 billion this year under his proposal.
Hawaiʻi’s hunger crisis is here, and urgent
We find ourselves in the midst of a hunger crisis driven by sky-high living costs, cuts to essential nutrition supports, and food systems that don’t work for all of us.
Free buses for keiki? Supporters hopeful after statewide bill axed
A proposal for statewide free transit died last week at the Legislature, but supporters still have hope for a proposal to make transit free for youth.
Protecting Hawaiʻi’s future demands pause on tax cuts
In the face of severe and unpredictable federal cuts, the plan to pause future state income tax cuts is a responsible safeguard for the very foundations of our community.
Scrutinize pause of tax cuts for all
Freezing progression of at least some of the state’s planned tax cuts is the clearest, cleanest path to preserving financial balance—at least until the effect of federal spending cuts is fully determined.
Annual passes for TheBus are set to increase by $110
Those in opposition argued that public transit is generally used by those from lower-income households, and that increasing bus fares would add to the struggles of Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living.
Honolulu City Council votes to raise public transit fares
The Council voted 6-3 — with Radiant Cordero, Matt Weyer, and Dos Santos-Tam dissenting — to adopt the new transit fares.
Honolulu bus, rail fares set to go up this summer
Council members voted Wednesday to boost the cost of an adult bus pass by $10 a month, along with other price hikes.
Hawaiʻi coalition calls for tax fairness for local needs
As Hawaiʻi struggles to meet growing needs in housing, education, health care and climate resilience, a broad coalition of community groups, labor unions and nonprofit advocates is pushing lawmakers to confront a long-standing question: how to pay for it.